Whos afraid of the big, bad wolf? How about the boogeyman? Okay, good — so weve got those two covered! But how about the ice cream man, or the next door neighbor, or the after-school sports coach? Now, before you get mad at me for picking on those three, let me just say I have nothing against any of these community members! In fact, my daughter and I buy Fudgsicles from our local ice cream man at the park all the time, and I have a very cool next door neighbor.

Today, we are so very sad for Leiby Kletzky’s family. By now, most of the country is familiar with this tragedy — the death of 8 year old, Leiby, abducted and murdered in his own Brooklyn, NY community while simply walking to meet his mother, just 7 blocks away from his camp on Monday afternoon. I cannot even imagine the pain Leiby’s parents are feeling.

Its that time of year again parents everywhere are smack-dab in the middle of the annual holiday shopping blitz and travel craze! And with the stress of running from store to store or from airport to car rental agency, how do we keep an eye on our kids, packages, luggage, and assorted holiday paraphernalia all at the same time? Of course, nothing beats plain old-fashioned, hand-holding supervision. But lets face it, its not always that easy.

CYBERBULLYING Have you heard of it? If not, you will because cyberbullying is becoming increasingly more common among tweens and teens using the Internet today. While todays parents may worry about the online sexual predator trying to lure children, many parents dont have a clue about this fast growing and dangerous phenomenon confronting our kids as they I.M., text, email, blog, etc. What is it?

CYBERBULLYING Have you heard of it? If not, you will because cyberbullying is becoming increasingly more common among tweens and teens using the Internet today. While todays parents may worry about the online sexual predator trying to lure children, many parents dont have a clue about this fast growing and dangerous phenomenon confronting our kids as they I.M., text, email, blog, etc.

How many times have you told your child to always obey the grownups? Have you insisted that they hug or kiss Uncle Johnny or that family friend or relative who visits every holiday, even though your child obviously feels uncomfortable doing so? Of course, every parent wants to make sure they arent raising rude, obnoxious kids. But, it can be a dangerous message we give our children when we insist that they deny their instincts and force them to be polite so that we, the parent, can save face. It can be especially risky to insist that they express physical affection when they are clearly uncomfortable doing so.

Its the age-old question, but like most things in life, there simply isnt one right way to do things when it comes to our kids. Sleepovers can be a fun rite of childhood passage. Personally, I can remember some terrific (and safe!) slumber parties with my close friends. These experiences were part of a wonderful childhood, and many parents would like their own kids to be able to enjoy the same. Yet, sleepovers can also be a slippery slope just by their very nature, and its certainly appropriate for parents to have legitimate concerns. Weve all heard stories about children being molested while at a sleepover. And yet many other children will enjoy sleepovers without anything bad ever happening. Instead of offering one absolute about sleepovers, my perspective is sometimes yes and sometimes no.